GenerationX

Good morning from Bermuda! I place the blame entirely on sommelier Michael for this morning’s 9:30am late wake up time and skipping my yoga (because I didn’t wanna risk putting my head below my heart just yet). When we got to Blu for dinner last night (will report soon), we decided to order a bottle of Veuve yellow label to celebrate. When Michael arrived at the table he wished me a happy birthday and presented something special from the cellar: a VINTAGE bottle for only $15 more than the price of the standard bottle. The champagne fully kicked in right around the end of the 80’s party in the sky lounge and after that, Patron (Jeremy) and Grey Goose (me) kept us going on the dance floor with our late night party friends until 2:30am. I am so glad I had the wits to book us an excursion today that doesn’t start till 1:15 in the afternoon. Plenty of time to pull ourselves together before going ashore. Today we’ll be doing the Devil’s Island snorkeling trip, then it’ll be back to the boat to prep for yet another champagne soaked evening at the Veuve Clicquot dinner!

No worries at all Joan! It was so nice to meet you today! Cheers!

Taking a step back in time to report on last night’s Blu dinner. We went to eat around 7:45 and were given a pager and an estimated 20 minute wait time. After about 15 minutes the pager went off. For appetizers, we had the crab bisque and macadamia crusted scallops and then we both ordered the lamb for main course and split an order of the truffle gnocchi. Somm Michael came right over after we’d viewed the menu and recommended a mild Chardonnay (he remembered from Equinox my aversion to oak!) to go with the bisque and a Shiraz to go with my lamb. We really enjoyed both appetizers but as you can see the scallop portion is just one small scallop. We were glad we’d ordered multiple mains. After doing so many cruises is such a short time, I’m pretty sure that on S and M class Celebrity serves the exact same lamb rack recipe for the MDR and Blu. Just with a somewhat lighter sauce on the side for Blu. I’m not gonna complain about that though, as it is really good lamb chops. The gnocchi wasn’t bad but also wasn’t as good as the gnocchi in Tuscan Grille. For dessert we split the apple crumble topped with perfectly softened vanilla ice cream. Even though the restaurant was very busy, we still had great service. I’ve just gotten dressed in my very understated birthday dinner ensemble and am off to the martini bar to have a cocktail while my husband gets ready. More to come tonight (that is if I don’t drink so much champagne that I can’t type straight)!

I just finished my birthday massage and am having some white peach ginger pear tea at Al Bacio. After breakfast in Blu, I did a 75 minute aromatherapy hot stone massage. My masseuse Lyn was very thorough and included a cellulite body brush treatment and oil essential oil scalp massage. It was incredibly relaxing and the perfect way to start my day. I think I’ll start trying to get my spa appointment times in the morning from now on. On my way down from the spa I passed through the once again completely full pool deck where a bumpin poolside Zumba class was in full swing. There were a few tables open for sit down at Al Bacio, but the line of people waiting to order to go drinks is all the way back into the shops area. I’ve noticed generally on this sailing, bars have been slammed and drink service has taken a while. I was chatting with one of the servers and he told me that the ship sailed full capacity of passengers, but short of bar staff. I remember thinking last night that it seemed like every bar I’ve been to really should have at least 1-2 more crew members to keep up with the level of demand I’m seeing. The crew who are here though really are trying their best to work at lightning speed and accommodate everyone and they’re remaining upbeat the whole time and apologizing for the delays. If you’re sailing soon, please remember to pack your best patience skills and remember that the crew who are here can’t help that they’re understaffed. Sadly I’ve seen a couple situations where people grumpy about their wait for a frozen cocktail have taken it out on their servers in a terrible way. My husband, who is not one to hold his tongue when he sees the crew being mistreated by other guests, almost got himself locked in the brig yesterday after seeing a man get right in the face of a much smaller young Filipino woman doing her best to keep up with poolside drink orders while wearing a KN95 in blazing sun and heat. After tea my husband is going to go try and get lucky in the casino again and I’m going to go see my buddy Genesis in Cellar Masters for a glass of Pinot Noir. It’s acceptability to start drinking red wine at noon on a Tuesday on your birthday, right?

Thank you! Jeremy actually had 2 of the Blu cocktails last night. The Garden Breezes and the Nightfall Elixir. I got a pic of the garden breezes but he drank the elixir so fast that I missed my chance! He said he liked both but preferred the Nightfall Elixir.

Good morning from and officially 40 year old Generation X! When I woke up this morning I could see that the wind, white caps and swells that had the Summit rolling all day yesterday have calmed to a flat ocean. Almost like Neptune himself doesn’t want anything to rock my boat on my birthday today. Then when I stepped out onto the veranda to do my yoga, I was greeted with a beautiful b-day rainbow! I always start each morning of my cruises taking a moment on the veranda to reflect on just how fortunate I am to have the means and opportunity to cruise and see the world beyond the shores of my home country. Today I’m also so grateful to have officially been blessed with another full year of life, health, loving family and wonderful friends. Speaking of wonderful friends, after dinner in Blu last night (full report to come) I had the tremendous pleasure of spending the final countdown to midnight and the official start of my big day drinking martinis and tearing up the sky lounge dance floor with FlorenceItaly and her husband! This lady is even more fabulous in person than she is on CC and Jeremy and I are very much looking forward to hanging out with them more the rest of the cruise. Well, I’m going to go toss some cold water on my husbands’s face to get him up, then start my birthday at sea. On the agenda: -Breakfast in Blu -Morning in the Spa -Lunch at Sushi on 5 -Food & Wine Pairing Workshop -Dinner in Blu -Martini Flights -A Great Big GenX Birthday Party in the Sky Lounge till the DJ Shuts Me Down! Have a great day everyone! I know I will!

Thank you! I’m looking for some wood to knock as I type this, but in my post-pandemic cruises I have been lucky enough not to have caught COVID onboard. I did, however, catch what we’re pretty sure was the omicron variant in mid-May. But we are also pretty sure that my daughter brought it home from school. An email went out saying that her class had an outbreak and when we had her tested she was positive (fortunately with just a runny nose for symptoms). About a week later, after testing negative a couple of times, I felt a bad stuffy nose and cough coming on and tested again and was positive. We were lucky that the quarantine period at home was harder for us than our symptoms!

All about our first sea day afternoon: After a morning on the crowded pool deck we decided we wanted to do buffet for lunch. We went in and washed our hands and made a scoping lap. The good news is there were many delicious looking lunch options. The completely depressing news for me is that the buffet was back to self service. 😭 Years pre-covid, right after watching a man at the breakfast buffet grab some bacon with his bare hands (because he didn’t want to wait for the person in front of him to finish with the tongs), then put his fingers in his mouth and suck the bacon grease off, then use his slobbery fingers to grab tongs and serve himself sausage links in the next tray, I decided that I would not risk eating any meals at the buffet until late in the cruise so that if my fellow passengers’ disgusting hygiene practices started an illness outbreak, I wouldn’t get sick till I was already home. My post-Covid cruises where kitchen staff have been serving gave me such a nice opportunity to enjoy the buffet more without hygiene anxiety. Once again, it was nice while it lasted. Seeing the buffet service situation, we doubled back to the mast grill instead to get a burger and a hot dog. People were so desperate for pool deck seating they had “reserved” the mast grill dining tables for pool lounging (as in several dining tables had no food in sight but were tipped with pool tote bags and had towels towel clipped to the chairs). So we took our lunch back down to eat on our veranda. After lunch I took a short nap while Jeremy went to the casino and won $250 on a penny slot machine. When I woke up, we went for afternoon coffee and tea at Al Bacio while listening to live acoustic guitar. Then we headed to Cellar Masters where sommelier Genesis gave me a fantastic $25 Italian wine flight experience. I especially liked the Italian Chardonnay which was nice and crisp and not at all oaky. Once I was the 3 glasses of wine in, I had enough liquid courage to take $50 and see if I could top Jeremy’s luck in the casino. My cash was gone in an hour and a half. Surprisingly, the casino was the LEAST crowded place I’ve been on the whole ship so far. There were maybe 20 passengers total there playing in the afternoon and, unlike everywhere else I’ve been on the ship so far, it was actually very easy to social distance. Time to start dressing for our first evening chic night!

YES!!!! Where can I buy this??? I NEED before my November cruise!

The pool deck is jam packed this morning. By the time we finished our Blu breakfast and made our way up, the only loungers we could find were one deck up by the solarium roof. I had to go to guest services this morning and they have signs up saying that the ship has sailed at full capacity and no upgrades are available. We’re going to relax and read for a while (btw here’s my book for this cruise, any other Below Deck mega fans following?) then figure out a lunch plan. Jeremy wants to spend some time in the afternoon in the casino, and while he’s doing that I’m thinking I may make my way to cellar masters for a wine flight and do some window shopping in the vintage handbag boutique.

Good morning from the open ocean! Jeremy is still down for the count so while I rehydrate on the veranda, a report on our first night on Summit: For dinner we took advantage of the first night specialty pre-booking discount and had Tuscan Grille. Service was a little slow, but the staff seemed to be doing the best they could and were very friendly and apologetic about wait times. I think the issue was that the Chef’s Table event was also being held in the back of the restaurant. From the looks of the plates and wine going out for that, it has to tie up quite a bit of the resources for the Tuscan kitchen crew and sommeliers. We didn’t mind a slower dinner (nothing to rush to on vacation after all), but felt a little bad for the staff who were clearly getting a workout in keeping up with everything. Speaking of workouts we ate our way to needing a good one! We started with calamari and the antipasti platter, then had Caesar salads then Jeremy had a filet mignon with a side of eggplant Parmesan and I had my favorite the ribeye with a side of the lobster rigatoni. For drinks I went with Italian wine while Jeremy kept his tequila streak going for the day and had an Italian Sour. The calamari was done perfectly. Super tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. I had sworn off the Caesar salad in Tuscan after many disappointments, but the table next to us got one and it looked so good I decided to give it another try. Finally it was done right! My ribeye was melt in your mouth tender, but a little under seasoned. A few grinds from the salt and pepper shakers on the table was all it needed though. That lobster rigatoni, this was my first time trying it and now it’s definitely going in my rotation! I wish there were a few more lobster chunks in it, but the lobster flavor in the sauce carried it. After desserts of fig gelato and limoncello cheesecake, we headed to the martini bar for an espresso martini pick me up and met a nice couple from Norway. Then we headed to Rendezvous Lounge to watch live band karaoke with our house band Hey Mama. After shutting down Rendezvous, we initially planned to head to bed, but then a couple we met on the dance floor invited us to join them in the sky lounge…readers of my prior reviews already know where this is heading. Yep. 2am. My margarita soaked husband and I. Covered in sweat from dancing. Stumbling arm in arm back to our stateroom across a rocking pool deck. When I did my yoga this morning, I felt every bit of my nearly 40 years in my lower back. Some pics of the fun below. Now I think I better go drag the mister out of bed so we can go get some Blu breakfast before it closes.

Sharing some pics of our AQ class stateroom 9080. Last time I was on Summit I was in a suite so this is my first time seeing a fully revolutionized lower level stateroom. I feel the same way about it as I did the revolutionized suite. There are some big pluses but also some pains. I really like the design and color scheme. The love seat is much more comfortable and user friendly than that weird faux leather covered bench/couch thing. Plus the smaller couch and and table give them room much more open floor space, making in-room yoga/workouts more feasible. There are bedside charge ports on one side of the bed and (hallelujah) a full body mirror inside the closet door. As far as my gripes, they’re relatively minor but space related. In the bathroom, those huge bottles of provided shampoo, conditioner and body wash take up the entire shelf inside the shower. There’s no space for any of your personal toiletries. I ended up taking the bottles out and storing them under the sink so I had some place to put my shampoo and razor. The closet situation is also rough for a girl like me. If you pack long dresses, the closet has several shelves at the bottom that cuts off the hanging area length and I had to bunch up the bottoms to get them in. Hopefully for evening chic nights I can just hang my gowns in the bathroom while Jeremy and I shower to steam the wrInkles out. I do have free pressing of 2 items as an Elite perk, but if I send them out, I still won’t have anywhere to hang them when I get them back where they won’t have to be bunched up and wrinkled again. Pre-cruise I received an email inviting Aqua class guests to request items from a list of exercise equipment to be placed in your room for use during the cruise. I was pleased to see that the weights set I request was waiting for me. We also had two yoga mats in carrying cases in the closet. Jeremy quickly informed me that he would not be using his. After we finish unpacking we’ll talk a little nap and then start getting ready for tonight’s Tuscan Grille dinner.

Ugh how very frustrating! I will be so glad when the day comes when all of these COVID jumping hoops are over with.

A little while ago on our way to check out the pool deck, we stopped by the specialty dinning desk to see if they might know about availability for the the Veuve Clicquot dinner. The desk attendant ran into oceanview to grab a sommelier to sign me up. I was delighted when he brought back Genesis, my fabulous somm in Luminae on Summit in October. She remembered me too and we both squealed with excitement on seeing each other and gave big hugs. As we were catching up, out of the corner of my eye I saw another somm walk up and then heard “Miss Charla! Good to see you!” Turns out it was Michael my somm from Equinox in November! Jeremy just stood there with crossed arms and a furrowed brow as we all chatted then as we were walking away, he turned to me and said “Does every sommelier in the fleet know you now??? Just how much wine have you been drinking on all these cruises you’ve been doing without me???? No wait, don’t answer that, pretty sure I don’t even want to know.” 🤣 Sharing some info on the wine events offered on our sailing as well as the captains club event schedule. I was very amused to see that apparently my loyalty status doesn’t carry over to Jeremy. So they left a list of events for Elite for me as well as for his lower Select status (his sea pass also shows him as Select). He was less amused by all this than I was. I have a feeling it’s soon going to get much harder to convince him to let me cruise without him. LOL

Hello from the Summit! After a 45 minute, $70 Uber XL drive through to New Jersey we arrived at the Cape Liberty cruise port and got our first views of the ship. Embarkation at Cape Liberty was somewhat different from Port Everglades. The attendant at the entrance to the building didn’t check our assigned boarding time or even ask to see our xpress passes, passport, covid test, vaccine cards etc. In fact, whereas at PE I get asked to see these things 2-4 different times before stepping onboard, no one ever asked to see our passports or vaccine card. The attendant who checked us in just quickly reviewed our test results. She asked us if we completed the Bermuda travel authorization but when I started to pull my travel file out of my tote bag, she said “oh I don’t need to see it, I just have to ask if you did it.” That was $80 well spent… The lack of paperwork checks did make the process go quickly. We were on the ship within 10 minutes of dropping off our bags. We just finished a massive lunch at Sushi on 5 washed down with an Asian Pear for Jeremy and a Kobe Highball for me and are enjoying our first martinis of the cruise. At around 1pm the announcement was made that cabins are ready, so we may get to unpack before sail away. Cheers from Cape Liberty!

It’s a beautiful morning to go on a cruise! Happy embarkation day to everyone sailing with us and happy National Tequila Day to all! My mezcal loving husband is looking forward to celebrating onboard shortly. I just finished a few last minute work projects while sipping a coffee that Jeremy brought me. Another Beekman hotel perk: each morning the concierge desk has complimentary coffee service. And not your basic pump dispensed carafes of regular and decaf. It’s a full menu including espresso and lattes. The caffeine was much needed after our dinner last night at River Cafe. I’m not in the habit of spending half a mortgage payment on dinner, but the place was definitely worth it! I’ll post some food pics later (the restaurant was kind of dark so I need to play with photo lighting) but everything we had was outstanding. I especially enjoyed the soft shell crab and lobster. The restaurant is right next to the Brooklyn Bridge and we had a beautiful view of the Manhattan night skyline while we dined. The service was everything I expected from a Michelin star dining experience and the live pianist just added to the ambiance. Pics of last night’s dinner wardrobe and soon-to-be happy cruisers below. Once my better half had finished packing, we’ll check out of the hotel and head to the cruise port. Next time you hear from me we’ll be on the Summit!

I will be sure to report back on that! A couple of months before the cruise I got an email from Celebrity with a website link that allowed AQ class guests to request a couple of pieces of exercise equipment (including yoga blocks, straps, etc.) to be placed in the room upon arrival to use during the cruise for no extra charge. I believe AQ class rooms are supposed to come with yoga mats standard as well. It will be interesting to see if the mats and equipment I requested are actually there! I enjoy starting my morning each day of the cruise with a few sun salutations overlooking the ocean!

I completely relate to this! In the museum we saved the room with the photos and stories of victims for last because we weren’t sure how much of it we’d be able to handle. We’d been in there about 5 minutes when I saw the display with the favorite stuffed animals of the toddler victim on Flight 175. I was hit by so much sadness and anger at what kind of sick monster could bring themselves to do such a thing knowing there were babies onboard. That was when I couldn’t take anymore. Then when we were walking around the reflecting pools we saw the sign saying that the museum places a rose in the etched names of victims on their birthday each year and it hit me hard looking around that square and seeing all those names of people who should be celebrating being another year older right now with hugs and joy and laughter with their families like I am, but had all that stolen from them. At one point I got close to a woman’s name that had a rose on it and her family had hung a photo of her next to it. It was of her, her husband, and a beautiful little girl who looked about Gen Z’s age. Jeremy had to hold me up when I saw that. Just thinking about that poor little girl who has grown up without her mama, and how her mom’s last thoughts were probably of her was more than I could bear.

Happy Saturday from the Big Apple! All went super smoothly with our flight and we landed at LGA a few minutes early. An Uber to our cost about $60 including tip. We had a great driver who, upon learning it was our first New York vacation, pointed out some sights of interest as we drove and shared fun facts about the different boroughs we passed by. I’m really falling for our hotel, the Beekman. It was not cheap at all (about $700 a night after taxes and resort fees), but I love the room and hotel design that manages to invoke old New York charm without feeling dated. I’ve never once felt the desire to be sucked into the trap of spending money on the items in my hotel mini bar, but the items on offer here are highly tempting. Plus it is perfectly situated for all the Lower Manhattan sights and entertainment. After freshening up at the hotel, we went for a late lunch at the Firenze restaurant at Eataly a few blocks from our hotel then it was only a minute or two walk from the restaurant to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. I bought our tickets for the museum a month in advance online and was glad I did as the purchase line was pretty long (and outside, in the Sun, in 95 degree weather). I don’t want to side track the review too much, but wanted to share a little about my impressions of the memorial and museum. First, a trigger warning for my fellow empaths following along, I found the museum to be EXTREMELY powerful. I was starting my sophomore year of college when 9/11 happened. The images and stories from that day affected me deeply then. I thought that almost 21 years later, I would be ready to visit the museum and revisit those memories with some level of detachment. I was not ready. Jeremy and I spent most of our visit with tears in our eyes and walking hand in hand, hyper aware as we walked through and heard/read good bye messages from the victims of that day, of just how lucky we were to be able to be holding the hand of a person we love. We took a few moments to stand in front of the massive blue tile wall and bow our heads and close our eyes and send thoughts of peace and healing for all of those who lost their lives that day, for those who have never left that ground, and for their friends and families who will probably never fully recover from such unimaginable loss. We left very much reminded of the horrific acts that we humans are capable of committing against each other when we allow our minds to fill with fear, anger, intolerance, bigotry and ignorance. But we also left with a renewed passion for living our lives as best we can, while we can and for laughing and loving big each day. Because you never know when, out of a clear blue sky, it can all change. I thought the museum was incredibly well done and powerful and I’m so glad that we decided to go. After the museum we decompressed sitting by the reflecting pools at the memorial just listening to the water fall (it really was soothing after the emotional time in the museum) then walked back to our hotel and had Manhattans in Manhattan at the hotel bar. We’re going to take a little nap then it’ll be time to get ready for our dinner in Brooklyn.

Good Morning friends! Nothing like starting the day with 5:30am airport bar screwdrivers and tequila sunrises. The bar in the Admirals Club lounge in STL doesn’t open till 7am and my husband was quite adamant about kicking off our vacation properly. It seems like with each trip I take this year the airport is busier and the process more chaotic. Even with the crowds and disorganization,our priority bag check and TSA-pre check security process only took about 40 minutes total. The non-priority check in and standard security lines were much longer and it looked like those would easily set people back at least an hour. STL has a daily morning nonstop to LGA. Flying into JFK would have been slightly cheaper, but would have involved hours more of travel time and required us to change planes in DFW or CLT (big no thanks). We’ve just boarded on time and so far [knocks all the wood in the rainforest] it looks good for us to depart on time and be in NYC by late morning. Our plans for the rest of the morning: a round of in flight cocktails followed by a nap before we arrive in the city that never sleeps. We’re all early morning smiles!

Good morning from our last full day in St. Louis! I spent my evening yesterday at the Four Seasons having spa, wine and charcuterie “me” time. I’m planning to have some spa treatments onboard Summit next week too, but I remembered that I had a gift card to burn from my wonderful husband from a previous birthday, so I decided to wrap up my last pre-cruise day at the office with a pedicure and facial. (I have a feeling I’m now at an age where those monthly facials are going to become more important with each passing year). This morning Jeremy and I did our emed tests and I’m pleased to report both were negative! This plus the arrival last week of the emails with our Bermuda Travel Authorizations (about 7 business days after we applied) means our cruise is officially on! Before I dig into the last items on my to-do list, sharing a little about our Bermuda cruise plans: Our cruise leaves out of Bayonne in New Jersey, so we are flying into NYC a day early to see some sights and eat and drink some New York things. Since it’s a special occasion, I decided to splurge a little (ok, a lot for a girl used to Midwest hotel rates) and book our NYC hotel stay at The Beekman in the Financial District (and unlike a previous, now famous, guest, I plan to pay my bill before departure). We have tickets to visit the 9/11 museum tomorrow then will have dinner at River Cafe in Brooklyn. When the hostess called yesterday to confirm our reservation (which we had to make a month out to get a table), she reminded me of their dress code requiring gentlemen to wear a collared shirt and jacket. Oh how I do love making Jeremy dress up! It’s been a while since I’ve sailed Aqua class (last time was our Alaska honeymoon cruise) so other than a first night dinner at Tuscan Grille, and perhaps a dinner in port in Bermuda, we plan to take all of our dinners in Blu to test the post-shutdown waters of AQ class food. How bad is it that I’ve been lurking menus in the app and have known what I want to order for my night 3 birthday dinner for weeks? The only potential exception to this dinner plan would be if I have the opportunity to attend the DELIGHTFUL Veuve Clicquot dinner again (for those seeking more context on my passion for this illusive pairing dinner option, please see my review of my Edge cruise, which includes the sordid tale of my completely humiliating meltdown in Luminae upon initially being told that the dinner was sold out for that sailing). On our sea days, as mentioned above, I plan to spend some time in the spa while Jeremy guts our kitchen renovation budget in the casino and we’ll hopefully have some lunches in Sushi on 5. For activities in Bermuda, my first thought was not to book ship excursions (since for the first 2 days there is zero risk of the ship leaving without us if we get back late). Then as I did my pre-cruise Bermuda research, I realized that our time in port coincides with a national holiday in Bermuda during which many businesses will likely close. This, plus the OBC I got as part of my booking, led me to book a couple of excursions through Celebrity to ensure that we still get to have some fun in port each day. We’ll be doing a snorkeling trip off Devil’s Island, a kayaking eco tour and an evening excursion of a white night catamaran sailing party. I’ve just checked us in for our flights now I’m off to have a good bye lunch with mom and make a stop for packing party champagne. We’ll be off to NYC at 7am tomorrow!

I am soooo excited to meet you in person! Safe travels and see you onboard!

Looking forward to sailing with you as well! We just did our emed tests and both were negative! 🙌🏾 Hoping yours go smoothly today as well. For a sail away cocktail, I love the sangria spritz at the Sunset Bar. The trick is to get it from a bartender who knows how to make it well though. When I was on Equinox last November Komang was at the sunset bar and made an excellent one. When I was back on the ship last month, 2 of the 3 bartenders just couldn’t ever get the proportions quite right. Too heavy handed with the bitters and aperol.

Thank you! Gen Z did very much want to come, even sans suite. I tried explaining to her that she wouldn’t want to rough it like that on a cruise but she wasn’t buying my excuses for leaving her home 😂 She’ll be sailing with me on Silhouette in December though and she can’t wait. She actually made a countdown calendar and is marking off the days.

Thank you! I would LOVE to dress Jeremy to match me but for some reason he vehemently objects to the idea. The closest I can get is occasionally convincing him to wear a color coordinated tie to match my dress on chic night. I will say he does have a very impressive collection of Hawaiian shirts that he rocks for day wear though!